For some time, Ignite Fredericton has been touting the Digital Product Development Living Lab and Innovation District, where we have packaged our assets and value props to attract investment to the region.

In our 2015 column, Innovation District was explained as a key deliverable evolving from the city’s first economic development strategy, Vision 2000, in 1992. It was to develop a ‘knowledge corridor’ by creating a technology and research park, and leveraging assets like the universities and research and development organizations. Today, we have over 60 R&D organizations within the Innovation District’s 2km radius, anchored by Knowledge Park, and the University of New Brunswick - outputting over 75% of the province’s university-related research.

This month, I am going to use this opportunity to convey our extreme disappointment with the outcome of the Energy East Pipeline project -- a 4,500 km pipeline that would have transported 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from Western Canada to refineries in Eastern Canada. In a province with a $14 billion deficit - New Brunswick could not afford to lose the prospect of 3,700 high paying jobs with a $6.5 billion GDP provincial impact!

On a national scale, Canada has lost the potential of 14,000 jobs and $55 billion in national economic impact = $10 billion in federal and provincial tax revenue = ability to lower corporate and personal taxes, which pay for public services, facilities and infrastructure. This is a massive blow on top of the federal Finance Minister...

My name is Vena Carr and I am a graphic designer and illustrator practicing in Fredericton, NB. Specializing in branding and marketing design, prepress layout, and image creation, I hope to turn my freelance work into a full-time career.

In 2015, I began studying graphic design at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. I chose to pursue graphics because I simply thought it was the best solution between pursuing art and not becoming a starving artist (instead, I became a starving design student). My passion for graphics did not begin until I was hired by the Canadian Crafts Federation (CCF) as a summer intern in 2016. Already having a love for the arts, I felt at home working for a non-profit organization that envisions “Canadian culture which embraces...

The US scientific and business communities are becoming increasingly uneasy about the future of special skill or Genius Visas, like the H1B. And rightly so.

Dr. Michio Kaku, New York Times best selling author and physicist, called the H1B visa a “secret bullet” without which Silicon Valley wouldn’t exist.

In April, President Trump signed an executive order mandating significant change to a number of immigration programs, including the H1B. Nobody knows what the final picture will look like. However, the visa program that helped build some of the greatest companies on Earth will likely have a new and much narrower focus. And that could be a problem.

Meanwhile, Canada is quietly launching expanded and expedited Genius Visa programs (My own nickname for them). The US has long been the brain that sucked up all the best talent from...